Knitting needle



Jan. 12, 1937. W. P MAIDEN 2,067,197

KNITTING NEEDLE Filed March 11, 1935 ATTORN EY Patented Jan. 12, 1937 KNTTING NEEDLE Winte P. Maiden, Piedmont, Calif.

Application March 11, 1935, Serial No. 10,501

1 Claim.

My invention relates to knitting needles, for manual use, of the type adapted to produce knitted articles of tubular form.

It is an object of my invention to provide a knitting needle cf the character described, which is an improvement over the needles used for this purpose in present use.

Another object of my invention is the provision of an aperture or eye in the needle which may be utilized in drawing a cord through the stitches of the knitted object, when the needle is removed therefrom so that the former may be fitted to the person, and the positioning of this eye with re spect to the point of the needle so that it is disposed out of the Zone thereof in which the stitches are formed, in order to remove the possibility of the point of the needle sticking in one of the eyes during manipulation thereof.

Another object of my invention is to provide an aperture in the needle, for the purpose set forth, which is so formed as to practic-ally preclude the undesirable feature of sticking referred to above.

Referring to the drawing:

Figure 1 is a perspective view of the needle of my invention in use in the production of a tubular knitted article.

Figure 2 is an enlarged side elevation of one end of the knitting needle showing the formation and location of the aperture or eye.

Figure 3 is a longitudinal sectional View taken in a plane indicated by the arrows 3 3 of Figure 2.

In detail, the knitting needle of my invention comprises a strip of preferably metallic material having pointed cylindrical needle portions i formed at either end thereof and a flattened resilient connecting band 5 formed preferably integrally with and `joining the two needle portions.

Formed in each needle portion, at a position remote from the point thereof, is a transversely disposed aperture 5 which is substantially elongated along the surface of the needle toward the point thereof. The sides of the aperture adjacent its longer diameter converge inwardly toward the axis of the needle so that at this point the area of the aperture is considerably less than that at the surface of the needle.

In the formation of tubular knitted articles, the operator, as shown in Figure l, holds a needle portion B in each hand so that the band portion 5 is flexed to form a loop. The needles are now manipulated so that looped stitches 1 are formed on one of them and these are pushed along the needle and the band 5 as succeeding stitches are made. After sufficient stitches have been placed on the needle, to produce a circle of the desired diameter, a second series of stitches are taken interwoven with the rst series, and after these have been completed, a third series is made, and so on until a tubular article 8 is formed.

It is desirable at times during the formation of the knitted article, especialy if the article is intended as a garment, to t it to the person so that the operator may, by adding to or subtracting from the number of stitches in succeeding series thereof, increase or decrease the girth of the garment to allow for Variations in the physical contours of the person. Since, due to the relatively small diameter of the looped needle, it is impossible to pass the article, with the needle contained therein, over the body of the model, I provide means whereby the needle may be removed from the article without danger of any of the stitches unravelling. This may be accomplished by pushing the stitches on one of the needles backwardly away from the point thereof to a position beyond the aperture 6, whereupon the end of a cord 9 may be inserted in the aperture and the stitches pushed from the needle on to the cord' so that the diameter of the article may be extended sufficiently to pass over the body of the model. After the fitting has been made, the end of the cord 9 is again placed in one of the apertures 6 and the needle is drawn, by the cord through the stitch loops whereupon the operator may continue knitting.

Applicant is aware that knitting needles similar to that shown are at present known to the art and that also there is a needle provided with apertures for the purpose of replacing the needle with a cord or other ilexible member when the needle is withdrawn from the stitches. This particular needle, however, has the apertures positioned closely adjacent the points thereof and operators have experienced no little difficulty in manipulating the needles due to the tendency of the point of one needle to catch in the aperture of the other and thereby decrease materially the speed at which the stitches may be made. Another disadvantage lies in the fact that the operator is required to work under a mental strain since she must be constantly on the alert in watching and preventing the point of one needle from entering the aperture of the other.

By positioning the aperture at a point remote from the point of the needle, and out of the zone thereof in which the stitches are formed, I find that, with the needle of my invention, stitches may be formed at a faster rate than is possible with the type of needle referred to above. Furthermore by providing the aperture with a aring 'side Wall portion, which slopes outwardly from a position adjacent the aXiS of the needle toward the point thereof, I have provided an aperture in which it is practically impossible to catch the point of the needle.

I claim:

A device for forming a tubular knitted article comprising a pair of needles pointed at one end and upon which knitted stitches may be formed by manipulation of a thread about said pointed ends While the portion of each needle adjacent said end is moved over the end portion of the other needle, each of said needles having a transversely disposed aperture therein, and a flexible member joined with each needle at the other end thereof, each of said apertures being disposed a suicient distance from the pointed end of said needle so as to be outside of the normal zone of movement of one needle over the surface of the other during the operation of the formation of said stitches, and portions of the side Wall of each aperture nearest the point of the needle being disposed at a slight angle With the longitudinal axis of the needle and slopingfrom a point adjacent said axis outwardly toward the point of the needle to intersect the periphery of the needle a substantial distance from the axis of the aperture whereby, upon accidental engagement of the point of one needle in the aperture of the other needle, movement of said first needle longitudinally of the other toward the pointed end thereof Will, by movement of said engaged pointed end along said sloping side Wall of the aperture, raise and release said pointed end from the aperture.

WIN'IE P. MAIDEN. 

